Metapopulation

The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in 1969 to describe a model of population dynamics of insect pests in agricultural fields, but the idea has been most broadly applied to species in naturally or artificially fragmented habitats.

Kritzer & Sale have argued against strict application of the metapopulation definitional criteria that extinction risks to local populations must be non-negligible.

However, he discovered that by modifying the spatial structure of the habitat, he could manipulate the population dynamics and allow the overall survival rate for both species to increase.

[3] These changes resulted in increased habitat patches and in turn provided more areas for the prey to seek temporary protection.

This habitat spatial structure of patches allowed for coexistence between the predator and prey species and promoted a stable population oscillation model.

Huffaker's experiment is significant because it showed how metapopulations can directly affect the predator–prey interactions and in turn influence population dynamics.

Huffaker's[4] studies of spatial structure and species interactions are an example of early experimentation in metapopulation dynamics.

These models have shown that the combination of environmental variability (stochasticity) and relatively small migration rates cause indefinite or unpredictable persistence.

Combining nanotechnology with landscape ecology, synthetic habitat landscapes have been fabricated on a chip by building a collection of bacterial mini-habitats with nano-scale channels providing them with nutrients for habitat renewal, and connecting them by corridors in different topological arrangements, generating a spatial mosaic of patches of opportunity distributed in time.

[9] Metapopulation models have been used to explain life-history evolution, such as the ecological stability of amphibian metamorphosis in small vernal ponds.

The seasonal duration of wetlands and the migratory range of the species determines which ponds are connected and if they form a metapopulation.

Metapopulations are important in fisheries. The local population (1.) serves as a source for hybridization with surrounding subspecies populations (1.a, 1.b, and 1.c).The populations are normally spatially separated and independent but spatial overlap between them during breeding times allows for gene flow between the populations.
E. coli metapopulation on a chip.